Rising Tides
by CompCat
Summary: Dubbed 'Shinigami' by the world government, these proud warriors have not been seen outside of the Seireitei in decades. Ichigo wants his shadow back. The Straw Hat crew wants to escape Thriller Bark. Surely, a Death God can help them conqueror and island of the dead? Little did Ichigo know, it was the start of a great adventure on the Grand Line.
1. Chapter 1

This place was an affront to all creatures. Ichigo grimaced as he walked down the hallways filled with the scent of death and decay. How could Moria stand to live in a literal graveyard? The foul odors assaulted his nose and Ichigo took out a mask he kept on hand for just this purpose. It his most of his face from the both the sun's rays and the stench of the dead.

Zombies were an afront to his entire being. Ichigo swung his zanpakuto over his shoulder and continued walking down the hallway, allowing his haki to scare away the more mischievous zombies who were trained to scare intruders.

"It's Ichigo-sama!"

"Shh, everyone be quiet. He hates us remember?"

"Why should we be nice to the _living_?" Ichigo swung a sword up, cutting the the offending creature from the wall and slamming a foot on its face.

"What did I say about talking while I am around?"

The creature squirmed beneath his heel, "N-not to?"

"Right," Ichigo pressed harder on the skull, "You creatures are abominations. The dead should stay _dead_." With wet squelch, the zombie exploded into fragments and a black wisp drifted away. The shadow of the soul had been freed. "Anybody else?"

"N-no, Ichigo-sama!"

"I thought so." Ichigo shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and continued on his path. That was the fifth zombie this week but it was a drop in the bucket on this accursed island. Feeling the coagulated blood soaking into his shoe, Ichigo grimaced and wiped it on the stone floor. "Great, now I am going to need new shoes.

A black bat swooped in the window of Moria's castle. "Ichigo," it said, "We will be having visitors soon." Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his mop of bright orange hair. "Do you want me to kill them?"

"No. It's the Straw Hat pirates and Strawhat Luffy. I need his shadow! Straw Hat Luffy...with his shadow I will be unstoppable. However, I expect him to put up a fight."

"Okay. I'm assuming Dr. Hogback is up to the usual?"

"Yes." The bat shrieked and flew away.

"No more talking then..." Ichigo muttered and swung the zanpakuto off of his back. "Sorry bud, I'm going to need to seal you for a little while." There was a murmur of discontent as the form of the sword shimmered and took the form of an over-sized katana. Content with the sword's new appearance, Ichigo placed the sword back in it's sheathe and continued down the hallway.

"Ichigo-sama is going to fight!"

"Everyone take cover!"

Damn zombies.

Hogback loved to lure in unsuspecting crew members. Usually, this amounted to either the theft of said crews' shadows, collecting the dead bodies of a decimated ship, or, in the worst scenarios, murdering the entire crew. Usually Absalom was the one who handled the initial invasion of the enemy; he particularly enjoyed terrorizing the women using the cursed devil fruit of his. Ichigo was the clean up for the troublesome enemies.

Using his powers, Ichigo leaped in the sky to watch the ship enter the initial perimeter of Thriller Bark. For their sake, Ichigo hoped they figured out the trick soon. A few feet below him, Absalom was ogling the women through a pair of binoculars. Ichigo made a disgusted face but continued to keep an eye on the lion-headed ship. For pirates, the Straw Hats were the least intimidating ragtag bunch he had ever seen. If the head captain was here, he would be calling them a group of kids with wanderlust pretending to be pirates.

"Absalom," Ichigo said, "are you going to sit their ogling the women's breasts all day or are you going to actually fight like you're supposed to?"

Absalom gave Ichigo a lecherous sneer. "Why, of course Kurosaki-san."The lion-mouthed man turned and continued his perverted giggling after muttering a few key choices about Ichigo's sexuality. Ichigo heard the man, of course, but the perverted stitch face wasn't worth his time-unless he chose to molest women again.

Ichigo held a very strong stance against typical pirate behaviors. "I swear if you touch any of the women in an inappropriate way..."

Absalom absently waved his hand, "I know. You're going to 'getsuga tensho' my ass across the island." He stood. "Tch. You ruin _all_ of my fun."

"That kind of thing isn't _fun._ " Dark flames started to swirl around him. Oh, that was bad. He was getting to angry. With sheer force of will, he restrained himself once more. This island and its masters was getting on his nerves, but he needed to somehow convince Moria to give back his shadow.

On the Sunny, the Strawhat pirates and Brook tried to make out the Thriller Bark in the swirling mists. Brook, had he had skin, would have been frowning. "Yohohohoho..."Brook chuckled, "you guys should be careful if you plan on going to that island."

Taken back by the jovial skeleton's somber tone, the crew focused intently on the man. "What do you mean?" Nami asked.

Brook turned his eyes to the skies, "On Thriller Bark there is a man. His hair is a as bright as the sun but those eyes haunt you. If you see him, you should run. I imagine even members of the Shichibukai might have trouble with him."

"Is he strong...?" Zoro asked. A hand grasped the swords on his waist.

"Yes," Brook nodded. "I haven't seen his kind in over fifty years. They rarely leave the sanctuary of their city. That is all I can tell you." With jovial laughter and a goodbye, the skeleton was dashing across the water into the distance.

"Argh I don't get it!" Luffy whined as his newest crew member -Luffy was not going to let Brook slip away-disappeared in the fog. "What was he being so cryptic about?"

"Luffy, I think we should heed his warning."Everyone turned to Robin. "I think I know who, or rather, what Brook is talking about."

"R-Robin, it's not something scary l-l-like ghosts is it?" Usopp was decked out in a vampire hunter's outfit complete with a cross, a cape, and garlic. Chopper clung to him like a terrified child.

"Not a ghost but a practitioner of a rare sword style they call under the category of 'spiritual arts' unique to an island in the New World. The world government gave them the name 'Shinigami' better translated as 'Death God.'

Usopp passed out. Chopper tried to revive him. Sanji and Zorro grinned in eagerness for a challenge. Luffy, well, was Luffy.

"This guy HAS to join my crew."

Everyone face-palmed.

"Say, Nami," Chopper asked huddled in his corner of the Mini Merry, "do you think this guy is a scary as Robin and Brook-san made him seem?" Curious as well, Usopp turned to Nami.

"I don't know. What I do know, especially when the Grand Line is concerned, unknown factors are deadly. If he's as strong as a shichibukai, I don't know if we can handle him. Even Luffy might have trouble defeating him."

"Defeating who now?" Nami froze, a cold sweat creeping up her spine, as she turned to see a man. His clothes were rather mundane but the giant sword on his back marked him as a warrior. _We might even be cousins_ , Nami thought as she saw the spiky mop of shoulder-length orange hair on his head. Nami screamed when she looked at his eyes.

"W-what's wrong with your eyes? Who are you?"

The man grinned and extended a hand. "The name's Ichigo Kurosaki. As for the eyes," he rubbed his head...almost seeming embarrassed. The golden eyes faded to a warm brown. "I have trouble controlling my devil fruit from time to time. But enough about me." Ichigo's hand went up to clasp his sword, "who were you going to defeat?"

"N-n-n-nothing, great death god sir! We jsut got trapped here by mistake!"

"It was a mistake!"

"Please don't kill us!"

The head captain would be halfway to killing this cowardly group already. How did they make it this far into the Grand Line? It was a mystery how any of them had a bounty as high as they did-especially the Monkey kid. "Hey, now you're making me look bad. I'm not going to kill you."

The cowardly duo stopped trembling. "Y-you're not?" Chopper said.

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm not really into the whole killing thing despite how I look. Now," Ichigo pointed to te island behind him, "if I don't escort you, the island can be danger-"

A loud rumble cut off Ichigo's sentence and giant waves crashed into the tiny boat. "Shit!" With a burst of speed, Ichigo launched himself off of the Mini Merry and into the air to avoid get swept up by the artificial wave. Calling upon his devil fruit, Ichigo willed himself to stay floating. _I hope those waves subside soon. I can't keep this up for long._ Eyes scanning the ocean, he searched for the mini boat with Moriah's latest catch. The boat was empty.

"Damn this whole island..." Ichigo muttered and landed on the nearby shore. Looking at the trajectory, they landed in Cerberus's pit and that damn dog didn't know the meaning of restraint as one of Hogback's failures. "I guess I should have Hildon track them down." In a flash, Ichigo disappeared.

Meanwhile, Usopp, Nami, and Chopper were feeling from their lives from a three-headed dog that came from the ditch they were thrown in. "What the hell is this place?"

"A place no one should go considering it's full of death gods!" Usopp shouted to Chopper.

"Shut up and run!" Nami broke in, "Or that thing will get us!"

"Bark!"

"Bark!"

"Yip!"

"Bark!"

"Bark!"

"Yip!"

Chopper craned his head. "Yip...?" He turned and sure enough, the last head was a fox. Which Chopper dutifully pointed out and enraged the undead beast.

"Ahhh!" Usopp screamed, "You made it worse!"

"It's really mad now!"

"Into the tree!"

The group scrambled into the tree canopy and watched the Cerberus sniff the air and wander off in search of it's prey. "It doesn't have a good sense of smell?" Usopp asked as he watched the creature lumber away.

"Well, at least we're safe." The group turned to the new voice. "Hello! Ichigo-sama sent for me. Dr. Hogback is expecting you."

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! Welcome to my new fanfic. I recently became interested in Bleach again so I wanted to give a go at a crossover I've been formulating for a while. For anyone worried about Ichigo being overpowered, or any shinigami for that matter, I've got that covered.**

 **I'm busy with college work but I'm going to be focusing on this single story. I did my best to double check the grammar though, considering I haven't written essay in nearly a year, my grammar is sure to be rusty. If you see any glaring mistakes, send me a pm or what not.**

 **As I do not want to give anything away, I am not going to say much. I hope you guys enjoyed this introduction.**


	2. Chapter 2

He was going to have an migraine before the end of today. That damn bat couldn't be trusted with any kind of instructions, but Hildon was the best at tracking people down. Now, because Hildon had abandoned them in the middle of the graveyard, their guests were suspicious of them and Gekko Moria. Usopp and Chopper wouldn't figure out anything anytime soon but Nami's form was tense.

"Nami-san." Ichigo turned to her, "The flan isn't going to bite you know."

"Yes but how do I know you guys didn't poison it or something? People from the Grand Line aren't exactly known for being friendly. And with all of those zombies out there," she motioned at the door, "how do we know anything on this island is safe."

"G-good point," Ichigo conceded to her logic. He himself had a bad run in with slavers at Sabaody Archipelago and Gekko Moria. He was _still_ tied up in that situation. "Well, I promise that I won't harm you guys despite my scary reputation. Speaking of which, who did you hear it from?"

"Why does it matter?"

"No reason." He didn't mention the fact that no one except those alive during the reign of Gold Roger should be able to recognize a shinigami. "Look, you're perfectly safe while I'm around. My name even means 'One Who Protects.' I don't know what else I can do to convince you that you three are safe while you are in this mansion."

Nami didn't believe him. Her body language was tense and her eyes raged with emotion. "If you really want to make it up to us, you can find the rest of our crew members. But, we won't go anywhere with you two until our captain is here."

Chopper spit out a gob of flan, "B-but Nami! I have a chance to learn from _the_ Dr. Hogback! These kinds of things don't happen all the time!"

"Chopper, if these guys really are plotting against us, it won't matter if you're hero wants to kill you."

"Sorry bud," Usopp said, placing a comforting hand on Chopper's shoulder, "but we should probably listen to Nami on this one."

Ichigo sighed and stood up. They needed to find the Strawhat Captain anyway before the Night Raid began. "I guess it can't be helped. You three should use the guest quarters to clean up. I'll go find that captain of yours. Any clue where he might be?" The pirates shook their heads. "Alright."

This was going to be annoying. His ability to sense others with his haki has always been shit. Hildon should have done this job. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his haki. Spots of blue light lit up his third eye. He ignored these. The zombies had a rather dim aura while Usopp, Chopper, and Nami lit up the immediate area. "Dr. Hogback, I'm going to go look for them."

"Please hurry back, Ichigo-san. I may need your help with an experiment in a little while." The shinigami gave a curt nod and vanished. Usopp rubbed his eyes in confusion.

"H-how did he move so fast?"

Hogback leaned forward in his chair, fingers laced together, with an eager grin. "Shinigami are an interesting bunch. Not only are they known to hoard some of the most powerful Devil Fruit, they are one of the few nations that cannot be brought under the rule of the world government." Perfect. His guests had forgotten all of their previous suspicions. Ichigo was perfect for diverting any conversation.

"Is such a thing possible?" Chopper asked, one hoof rubbing his chin in deep thought.

"Indeed. The shinigami are a relic from the void century. While they have weakened in the past century, they are still a mighty militaristic society that holds themselves to strict traditions. Every shinigami carries with them a specially crafted sword they call zanpakuto and adhere to a strict set of codes regarding their spiritual arts. Their whole religion is founded on the idea of balance within the soul and, as such, the world government gives the island the name "Soul Society" for lack of a better term."

"Whoa!" Usopp said. " It sounds like Ichigo and Zoro would have a lot to talk about."

"Ichigo and Zoro even have similar personalities..." Chopper mulled over the idea for moment before a giant grin took over his face. "I think it might be fun!"

"Ichigo will never tell anyone about his sword techniques. Even uttering the secrets of the zanpaktutou is grounds for execution by both the world government and the Gotei Thirteen if it is not between two members of the Seireitei." Cindy came back in and began to clean up the table cloth. "Ah, Cindy-chan! You're going to smudge the table cloth!"

"You're a smudge on existence."

"How cruel," Hogback whined. Clearing his throat, he turned back to the Strawhats. "I'm afraid I cannot tell you more. Ichigio should be back with your other crew members soon. You must be exhausted and it is getting late." Hogback motioned to Cindy. "She will be showing you to the guest quarters in the absence of Kurosaki-san."

The Strawhats didn't plan on staying the night.

Ichigo found the ship stuck in the giant web that surrounded Thriller Bark. Landing on the deck of the ship-what ordinary ship had a tree? No one greeted the shinigami. Normally, an intruder such as himself would invoke hostility from the crew members who refused to leave the ship. The ship was silent. The crew had abandoned it and now he would need to have the island's zombies secure the ship so they couldn't escape. "Well, I guess Perona will be cleaning up the ship soon..."

Ichigo reached out with his senses once more to search for the wayward captain and his crew. An incredibly bright aura lit up his senses. He found them! They were in the trenches with the Cerberus though the wolf seemed to scared for some reason. There was no reason to trick the the captain. He would just capture them and quit dawdling using Hogback's and Moria's tiresome Night Raid method.

Cerebus shook as he recognized that intimidating aura. No, Cerberus would like anybody but _that_ phantom to show up. Surely, the Phantom would kill him for just being 'alive'. Cerberus tucked his tails and began to back up fearing for his soul. It was getting closer at an alarming rate. All around, the zombies froze, sensing the most hated man on the island.

"I-Ichigo-sama is coming."

"I know that aura anywhere."

"Everyone retreat! Ichigo-sama is coming to apprehend the intruders!"

There was a loud crash. Dirt blasted upwards. With a single swipe, the dust cleared revealing Ichigo. Ichigo shot the lead zombie a look of 'you guys are useless' before stowing his sword. "Are you Strawhat Luffy?"

"WHOOOOOAAAAA!" That...was not the reaction he expected. "AWESOME! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" The captain of the infamous Strawhat pirates was bouncing around him like a toddler in a candy shop full of his favorite sweets. "You HAVE to join my crew!" Ichigo placed a hand on the kid and held his head in place only for the body to keep moving around. So this guy had a devil fruit.

"Ow!" Ichigo winced, "Stop pulling my hair brat!"

"But it's more vivid than Nami's! Is it real? You know, Zoro has green hair so you'll fit right in!"

"Uh," Ichigo pointed to the hyperactive captain, "is he always like this?"

"Sadly yes." The response came from the blonde headed man in the fancy suit smoking a cigarette. What an unusual outfit for a pirate. "Who the hell are you?"

"Can't you see, ero-cook? He's a swordsman." Zoro's smile was all teeth as he reached for his blades. "And a powerful one from the looks of it."

The shinigami had enough of the captain's antics. He swung a fist out and sent the captain flying into a tombstone. "Ichigo Kurosaki." The group flinched as they saw their captain getting flung away with no effort. In the background, Ichigo heard the rubble shifting. "Kid, I wouldn't get up if I were you. Logia and Paramecia users are not immune to my atta-"

"Gomu gomu nooooo -" Ichigo drew his sword, "PISTOOOOOOL!" An fist flew out of the cloud of hit his sword with a clang before retreating back into the cloud.

"Strong left!"

"108 pound cannon!"

"Dos fleur!"

"Going all out right from the start huh?" Ichigo grinned and sidestepped the pure force wave generated by the green-haired swordsmen's attack and ducked under the robotic arm that flew at his face. He grabbed and threw the leg aimed at his face. That's when he saw the flower petals. "I've seen an ability like this..." Focusing all of his strength into his legs, he jumped out the way of the petals.

"Gomu gomu no pistol!" Again? Ichigo made a rolling dodge. The fist impacted the dirt throwing up rubble.

"That's a strong punch kid but it's not enough to beat me!"

"If I beat you, you're joining my crew."

"Fat chance of that kid!" There was a flash of light and a wave of pure force sent Luffy spiraling past the crew. "I have my own crew mates to look for!"

Robin watched the scowling shinigami dodge Luffy's attacks. The man didn't look like the rest of the zombies on the island. That meant he was a living shinigami. Her eyes drifted down the shinigami's feet. If she planted a trap, she could trap him. How curious though, he didn't have a shadow nor did he seem to be truly attempting to hurt Luffy.

"Treinta Fleur: Strangle!"

 _Crack!_

Crap, it felt like his spine was breaking! Trying to pry his body apart, Ichigo noticed all of the hands sprouting on his body and restraining him with a well placed hold. "Well," Ichigo chuckled, "that's interesting." He could easily get out of it but he didn't want to go leaking is devil fruit across the field or maiming the person holding him. That never ended well for anyone.

The woman restraining him approached and knelt down in front of him. "I wasn't expecting you to go down so easily, shinigami-san."

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly allowed to kill anyone here."

"I hypothesized that was the case. Well shinigami-san, I can't help but be curious as to why you are outside of the Soul Society. The Gotei 13 tends to wall itself off from any island that isn't part of the Rukongai."

"Why should I tell yo-gah!"Crack! "Stop, that hurts!"

"I also noticed you don't appear to have a shadow."

Ichigo went quiet. All the zombies had fled when the fighting started so he should be safe for now. "I am searching for an object of value that was stolen from the Soul Society. I had my crew with me but we got hit by a freak storm and our ship was destroyed. I washed up on Thriller Bark where my shadow was stolen."

A powerful artifact? Now, Robin was curious. Anything that came from the Seireitei would have immense destructive power. "You're being forced to work for him?"

"Yes!" Ichigo growled at the woman. "Moria has been holding onto the my shadow and the shadow of one of my crewmates-another shinigami. I was the only one Moria decided to imprison her in a location I don't know. I can't simply purify the zombies because our zombies don't exist. Beating Moria unconscious won't return our shadows either."

"Okay!" Luffy clenched a fist and gave Ichigo a big grin. "Well, if I want you to be my nakama then I guess we need to free you huh?"

"Free me? Are you crazy kid? You'll get your shadow stolen too just like the Humming Swordsman and all the people before you."

"Then I'll beat him without my shadow!"

"It can't be helped. I'll have to stop you or he'll kill Rukia!" Ichigo growled and let his restraints loose. Black etheral flames erupted forcing the hands to retreat.

Robin sensed something was wrong. This wasn't a normal devil fruit power. It was almost like the old tales of the shinigami she had read on her home island. The dark aura of the creatures the shinigami were said to have subdued centuries ago. "I know that power..."

"Then you know why you should leave this island." Ichigo grinned, a smile tinged with bloodthirst and madness, and pulled the great sword off of his back.

"Everyone run!"

Black and red energy exploded in the clearing.

He had finally found the perfect body! Finally, he could be rid of that meddlesome Kurosaki pest. The brat kept destroying his creations. The teenager kept purging the shadows using his haki and ruining all of his hard work! Hogback couldn't fathom why Moria kept the teenager around beyond the fact that his shadow would be wasted-and easily destroyed-in a low level grunt. But now, he had found the perfect corpse to hold the shadow of a shinigami.

Hogback added the final stitch to the white clad corpse. What better container than another shinigami? A body that would instinctively now how to use a shinigami's power? He would have to do something about the sword. Maybe his minion could drug Kurosaki and steal it? Without his zanpakuto, the boy would be greatly weakened and his Devil Fruit powers were virtually non-existent except for the occasional rampage. Yes, it was a perfect plan!

"I've done it! I've finally create the ultimate zombie! A true death god-a resurrected shinigami!"

"Yohohoho!"

"What?" Someone was spying on him! Where was the hot headed brat when he actually needed him? It had been a good idea to have Ryuma monitor the mansion instead of intercepting the pirates when they landed. He knew exactly who was beyond the door.

The door swung open and the trio of Strawhat pirates went flying through the doorway. The trio began sputtering nonsense about not seeing his creations but Hogback knew better. He turned up at his general zombie. "I found some rats, yohohohoho! What should we do with them?"

"The same thing we do with all of those people who poke their nose where they don't belong." He had been willing to be courteous but everyone insisted on sticking their noses where they didn't belong, didn't they? "The Night Raid is starting soon." A thought struck him. Ryuma would be one of the few zombies capable of taking down Kurosaki. "Ryuma, I need you to take Kurosaki's zanpakuto."

"Oh?"

"I found the body of a shinigami captain from your era. A shinigami is only a quarter as strong without their zanpakuto and this guy didn't come with one."

"I see, yohohohoho. My sword skills are better the Kurosaki-san but his blade is sharper. Do you have a plan in mind?"

"Poison."

"Poison?!" Chopper yelled, shocked, "You would poison your friends?"

"He's not my friend! He's a brat we enslaved when he washed up all the way from Sabaody on a dingy boat that keeps destroying my creations! Until now, I haven't found a vessel suitable for the skills of a shinigami. But, you'll understand soon once you meet Moria. Even a shinigami couldn't save himself! All that's left is to join the ranks of the undead!"

"T-that's horrible."

"So Kurosaki-san isn't a bad person after all..."

"Yes, I'm sure you noticed that petty promise he gave you. He won't allow you to be harmed but that is just an empty promise." Hogback turned to the undead swordsmen. "Capture them."

Ryuma didn't acknowledge the orders. "Cindy-chan, would you mind opening the door?"

"Eh?" Chopper said, "He isn't going to capture us?"

"Run!" Nami yelled and the trio dashed for the door.

They didn't make it.

* * *

 **A/N: Things are about to get real interesting! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed. I will try to update this story every Saturday though no promises. Some of you may have noticed I didn't follow the exact wording for the episodes. I find that boring and it makes it easier to write as long as I follow the general idea.**


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